Chapter 169: Chapter 169

CHAPTER 169

The darkness that had covered the entire chapel disappeared. The blocked passageways were all restored to their original state.

Demphis, having completed his mission, bowed deeply.

“Then I shall conceal myself.”

He couldn’t let Millia or Edia know that he had taken him as a servant.

“Are you keeping this a secret from Laficel as well?”

“Obviously,” Karnak replied.

“You’re saying what Tesranak did will be attributed to me.”

Demphis understood immediately.

“It must be concealed at all costs.”

Thanks to having become a servant, there was no need to hide this from Laven.

“This is fortunate.”

“Yes, Sir Laven saw everything after all.”

At the exchange between Serati and Baros, Laven blinked in confusion.

“If I weren’t a servant, what would have happened to me?”

The two avoided his question.

Laven’s face grew more anxious.

“…Hey?”

In any case, on the surface, it would be presented that Karnak defeated the Arch Lich and other necromancers, and rescued his comrades.

Thus, after Karnak’s group escaped, Demphis began moving separately.

He had already issued several instructions to facilitate this.

“Then I shall proceed as ordered.”

“Contact me as we’ve arranged.”

“Yes.”

After finishing the conversation, Demphis quickly slipped out of the chapel.

Once he disappeared, Karnak looked toward the stone chamber.

“Now, let’s go rescue the others… no, wait, there’s something we need to do first.”

Since Laven had become a servant, he needed to be integrated into the secret magical communication.

Karnak prepared a spell for a moment before sending a message.

[Hey, hey! Can you hear me, Laven?]

“What the?! What is this?”

Next, Baros and Serati’s voices echoed in his head.

[It’s just a spell for us to talk to each other.]

[We often say things that others shouldn’t hear.]

Laven looked around in confusion.

Karnak gave him a knowing glance.

“Serati.”

“You’re really putting me to work here.”

She complained but obediently taught Laven how to use the communication spell.

The method itself wasn’t difficult, so Laven picked it up easily.

[Like this? It’s much faster than talking.]

[It’s very useful in battle.]

With that, they had taken care of everything they needed to.

“Right, now let’s really go rescue the others.”

***

Those who had been captured were safe.

Thanks to being put to sleep by magic, they were only slightly drained but had no trouble moving.

Millia, upon being rescued, asked in astonishment,

“My goodness, did you defeat Arch Lich?”

While Edia didn’t fully understand how monstrous an Arch Lich was, thinking only, “The King’s Order is really something,” those with knowledge of the undead couldn’t help but be shocked.

Karnak and Baros waved their hands modestly.

“We just got lucky.”

“A stroke of luck like that won’t come twice.”

They weren’t being humble; they really had been fortunate.

If Serati hadn’t awakened, even Karnak wouldn’t have had a solution.

Laficel was also in awe.

“Wow! Serati unnie, you’ve become a Blue Knight?”

It was truly impressive.

To reach such a level in her mid-twenties!

‘As expected of her! I need to train even harder!’

Serati looked at Laficel with a mixture of disbelief.

‘How did she figure that out just by looking?’

No one had mentioned that Serati had reached Blue-level, yet Laficel had immediately exclaimed in amazement.

Even though Serati had been lucky to advance earlier than others, seeing a genuine prodigy like Laficel made her feel a sense of urgency.

‘If I don’t want to fall behind, I’ll need to work even harder.’

After a brief explanation of the situation, Karnak urged the group.

“We may have taken out the leaders, but we don’t know when the remnants of the cult will come after us. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

***

The escape was not difficult at all.

It was only natural—Demphis, who had been hiding, had done his utmost to clear the path for them.

Without any problems, they escaped the Maleficus Dungeon and headed for the frontier city of Wellard.

On the way, they even remembered to retrieve the necromancer they had buried in the forest. Millia, as expected, had a kind heart.

Though the necromancer had been half-dead for about four days and was mentally shattered, at least they had saved him before he died.

What happened to him after that?

He was put on trial and beheaded. He was a necromancer, after all.

After arriving safely at Wellard City, they handed over information about the cultists to the Etrial King’s Order.

It was now up to them to send in the extermination teams.

But they couldn’t return to the Kingdom of Yustil just yet. There was still a matter to resolve.

Laven had discovered Karnak’s identity. He had also become his servant.

No matter how trustworthy a person is, it’s difficult to let someone who knows your life-threatening secrets roam freely.

Especially when Karnak wasn’t exactly a good person.

He said bluntly,

“Follow me.”

Naturally, Laven asked,

“What about the Etrial King’s Order?”

The answer he received was obvious.

“You’ll have to quit.”

“…Understood.”

Surprisingly, Laven accepted it without much resistance.

After all, having become a necromancer’s servant, he felt guilty staying in the King’s Order, which specialized in hunting cultists.

“So, do I just follow Lord Karnak from now on?”

“It wouldn’t be natural like that, would it? I’ll appoint you as a knight of the Jestarad family, like Serati.”

Serati, looking troubled, interrupted.

“Wait a minute, but that means Laven would be abandoning the Etrial Kingdom to go to Yustil. Isn’t that an international issue?”

An aura user, regardless of strength, was a strategic asset on the national level.

And Laven was from the famous Strauss family.

Even though he was overshadowed by his brother Emile, no one would think of him as incompetent.

He wasn’t expected to become the Martial King in the future, but at the very least, it was anticipated that he would be an aura user of considerable talent.

“To the Etrial Kingdom, it’ll look like Yustil Kingdom is snatching a valuable resource without lifting a finger.”

Her words made Karnak scratch his head in frustration.

“Is that so? But we can’t just kill him either.”

Laven was shocked and asked in disbelief,

“Wait, if I don’t follow you, you’ll kill me? Is that the only option?”

“I said we can’t kill you. Why are you freaking out when I said I wouldn’t?”

With a grin, Serati tapped Karnak on the shoulder.

“Lord Karnak.”

“Hm? What?”

“Let’s not use that kind of phrasing.”

“Can’t even say that?”

“No.”

Another line was added to the list of things not to say when trying to live like a decent person.

After a brief moment of reflection, Karnak asked seriously,

“Then what should we do?”

“Just ask him.”

The truth was, the real concern wasn’t with the Etrial Kingdom.

Everyone knew that the Strauss family held far more sway than the Etrial royal family.

Serati looked at Laven and said,

“Contact your family and explain the situation. If your father gets furious, you can just use the excuse of knight training to follow Lord Karnak.”

As a member of the Strauss family, being ordered to serve a nobody like Karnak from the start would raise suspicions.

But if it happened after angering Gallard?

He’d simply be a rebellious son defying his overbearing father.

A common enough occurrence.

“That wouldn’t seem suspicious at all.”

It was a rather convincing suggestion. Karnak nodded in admiration.

“Wow, Serati, you’re getting really good at lying.”

“…”

Leaving the now-sullen Serati behind, Laven sent a messenger to his family.

A few days later, Gallard’s reply arrived.

–Do as you wish.

It was exactly the same response as when Laven had joined the Etrial King’s Order.

Karnak and Baros clicked their tongues.

“Wow, that’s cold.”

“Does he really not care what his son does?”

For them to say something like that meant it was truly extraordinary.

“I told you, didn’t I? My father only ever cares about my older brother Emile.”

Laven replied with a bitter smile of self-mockery.

“Still, for his second son to become a knight for some no-name noble family and get this kind of reaction…”

Serati suddenly burst out in anger.

“Hold on! Are you seriously belittling our family like that?”

After all, she was still a knight of the Jestarad barony.

The native Jestarad members, however, were unfazed.

“Honestly, compared to the Strauss family, we deserve to be looked down on.”

“Exactly. How could Jestarad even compare to Strauss?”

Serati looked at the two of them in amazement.

“…Surprisingly, you guys don’t have much pride in this area, do you?”

In the end, Laven Strauss officially became a knight of the Jestarad family.

***

All matters in the Etrial Kingdom were finally settled. Karnak’s group, along with the rescued Edia, returned to the Kingdom of Yustil.

Back in the capital, Drunta, Edia wasted no time regaining control of the Altas Merchant Group.

The root of the trouble, the Tekas Merchant Group’s Drunta branch, couldn’t interfere at all.

The Tekas Merchant Group had been subjected to endless investigations by the Church of the Seven Goddesses.

In fact, Edia even managed to encroach on Tekas’s territory during that time.

“So, what I’m saying is, how about investing a little more, Baron Karnak?”

“Hey! You said you’d swear loyalty, and now you want to squeeze more money out of me?”

“This is a golden opportunity to make money! You can’t miss this chance!”

Watching this scene, Serati realized something.

‘Oh, so loyalty and dissatisfaction are separate matters, huh?’

Though he grumbled a bit, Karnak handed over more investment money without protest.

Because of the side effects of the bewitching spell, Edia was genuinely loyal to him. Everything she did was for Karnak’s benefit.

Moreover, with her business skills, she was bound to earn back more than the investment.

Not to mention, having the Church of the Seven Goddesses on their side was a huge advantage.

In fact, the reaction from other merchant groups regarding the Tekas’ Drunta branch was this:

–There’s this guy named Karnak, and the merchant group he invested in? Tekas tried to mess with them and immediately started spiraling toward ruin.

–Something feels off about this. Let’s not get involved.

The sharp intuition of merchants couldn’t be underestimated.

Thanks to that, most things were falling into place.

During this time, the rest of the group returned home for the first time in a while, resting and recovering their energy.

Millia went home, and Laficel happily continued her swordsmanship training under Serati, who had awakened as a Blue Knight.

Laven also finally heard the full story about his future that had been skipped over earlier.

“So, the one trying to take over my body was my future self, and I rose to the rank of Martial King…?”

Laven was left speechless by Karnak’s explanation.

“I’m more shocked that my older brother Emile is supposed to die.”

It was hard for Laven to even imagine that as his future.

It felt like a story about someone from a completely different world.

“My older brother Emile sure seems to die a lot in different timelines.”

In Demphis’s future, Emile died to Tesranak, and in this future, he died to Karnak.

Then, suddenly, Laven had a question.

“Then what happens to the soul of the Martial King? Can’t he come back or something?”

Karnak’s answer, however, was unexpected.

“Who said he went back to the future?”

“What? I’m talking about the soul of the Martial King.”

“Nope. He’s still here in this timeline.”